


First Adventure

by LetoaSai



Series: Secrets [10]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cloud's a good dad, Pirates, Raising children, Sequel, Treasure Hunt, keeping kids occupied, tiny babes sharing a paopu fruit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25682197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: When Sora and Riku were in a grumpy mood, Cloud had the perfect adventure in mind. A treasure hunt.
Relationships: Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Secrets [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593604
Comments: 29
Kudos: 90





	First Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. 
> 
> Prequel to Secret's Kept

Sora stomped inside angrily. That's right! He was angry. He was also all the more justified by the way Riku stomped equally annoyed beside him. Right, they were both annoyed! It wasn’t fair! The only relief from the day was how cool it was inside rather than the heat outside. Cloud kept the AC running all the time. 

“It’s not fair.” Sora grumped. 

“They’re always like this!” Riku scowled, maybe he was more unhappy than Sora was. 

“Why are you two banging around my house?” Cloud asked, tone almost bored. He stood at the washer and dryer in the corner, swapping laundry around and turning to the pile of clothes to fold. 

“It was our turn!” Riku stomped his foot. 

“Because, because we were swimming! We were there first!” Sora inhaled, his rant just starting when Cloud held his hand to stop him. 

“Sora. Riku.” Cloud said calmly. “What have i said about whining?” 

Sora pouted. “Don’t…” 

Cloud smiled faintly. “Yeah, but the two of you can calmly tell me what happened. Weren’t you playing in Riku’s pool?” 

Riku’s father had stopped in briefly again. Most of his days were spent out at sea fishing, but when he came home it was with presents to buy his children’s affections. Cloud always rolled his eyes at the thought. Maybe it was a harsh thought, but he thought the man to be an idiot. He half expected Hana to be pregnant again. 

This last trip brought the kids an above ground pool they adored, that seemed rather redundant with the ocean a stones toss away. 

“We were.” Riku said, mouth pinched. “It was our turn. Me and Sora were playing in the pool but Nadine and Lanai came out and said it was their turn and they invited friends from school to swim so mama said to let them have a turn too.” 

“Only they said that we were too little to play with them and kicked us out of the pool.” Sora pouted, cheeks puffed out. 

“Ah. I see.” Cloud said, folding towels. “That wasn’t hard to explain at all, was it?” 

“But papa, it’s not fair.” Sora mumbled. “It was our turn…” 

Cloud hummed. “Why don’t we find something else for you boys to do?” 

“Like what?” Riku pouted. 

“We could go swim in the ocean?” Cloud offered but both boys made a face. The ocean was old news and the pool was brand new. 

“There’s nothing fun on the beach.” Riku crossed his arms, looking so angry and precious. Cloud just smiled at them. 

“There’s plenty to do on the beach.” 

“Yeah but it’s stuff we’ve done before.” Sora said, voice heading for a whine again. “There’s nothing new there.” 

Cloud laughed. “Boys, there’s plenty of stuff to do on the beach. Plenty of new things to find.” He hummed and turned away from the laundry basket. “I remember when Sora was just a baby, i found a very interesting thing.” 

It sparked curiosity. “What kind of thing, papa?” Sora asked. 

“Like a shark’s tooth?” Riku asked, racking his brain to think of what it could be.

“Well,” Cloud said, looking around. “Let’s see, where did i put it?” He looked around the laundry room, two tiny boys following his every move. “Not here.” 

“What is it!?” Sora asked. 

“What did you find?” Riku echoed. Cloud could hardly walk without tripping over one of them. He went through the living room and the bathroom and ended up in the kitchen where he searched through the cabinets. 

“Must be around here somewhere.” Cloud said, looking in the pantry where he finally shouted a loud “Aha!”

“What! What! What!?” They were circling around him, previous melancholy forgotten. 

Cloud handed them the bag filled with sand and a tall, green tinted bottle. “Look at this.” he said, pulling out the bottle to hand to them. “Look, see it has a shark etched into it.”

“It’s just a bottle?” Sora blinked, excitement waning as he took the bottle to examine. 

“Well how many bottles with sharks on it have you seen?” Cloud wondered. 

“I guess…” 

“I like sharks.” Riku said, taking a turn and holding the bottle up to the light to see the shark better. “Hey. Hey papa Cloud! There’s something in here!” 

“Really? What is it?” Sora was glued to his side again. 

“Oh?” Cloud hummed. “Something inside? Well…” He looked thoughtful. “Why don’t we take the cork out and you boys can see what it is.” 

The boys cheered, bad mood forgotten as they handed the bottle back and Cloud went to grab a corkscrew. With a ‘pop’ the cork came free and he handed the bottle back to two very excited little boys. 

It took the the better part of an hour to pull the slip of paper out of the bottle and it gave Cloud plenty of time to put the laundry away. 

It might have been busy work for them, but the boys were on a mission. 

“PAPA!” Sora’s voice carried through the house. “It’s a pirate map!” 

“A treasure map!” Riku’s face filled with glee. “Look!” 

Sora grabbed Cloud’s hand to half pull him to sit and both boys were practically in his lap a few moments later. The brittle paper was spread out for him to see.

“There’s an ‘X’ and everything!” Sora pointed at it as if it wasn’t obvious. “You found a pirate map!” 

“I guess there are neat things to be found on the beach still.” Riku muttered. 

Cloud watched the way the boys studied every turn and color on the map. Adventure really won out over a day at the pool. 

“You know…” Cloud said. “This looks like a waterfall.” he tapped the map. “There’s a waterfall on the play island, i think. I wonder if a long, long time ago, pirates buried a treasure there.” 

Sora vibrated with excitement but it was Riku that gripped Cloud’s arm. “Can we go!? Please!” 

“Well…” Cloud smiled. “I suppose we could row over and take a look. Riku, go ask your mom if it’s okay for you to go. I’ll be with you boys the whole time.” 

Riku nearly fell off the couch. “I’ll go ask right now and meet you at the boat! Don’t forget the map, okay!?” 

He ran out of the room and then out of the house all together. 

“Papa, do you think there's really a treasure?” Sora asked, eyes large. 

“Hm,” Cloud ruffled his hair. “I don’t think there’s any harm in going to look.” 

Fifteen minutes later they were outside at the little row boat Cloud had gotten from the moogles the year before. The boys were arms with their map, plastic pails and little shovels from their sandcastle building kits. 

It was...well it was adorable. 

Cloud rowed for the boys though they offered again and again to take a turn. The play island really wasn’t all that far away and he kept the oars in hand. The boys liked playing there, and only a few other kids ever got permission to tag along. It had been a playground for children for years and had been built upon by seemingly every generation. 

When they finally got to the dock the boys spread the map out again and looked very seriously at the marks. 

“This is us.” Riku said confidently, pointing to the map. “Because there’s a boat on the picture.” 

“So we go...that way.” Sora pointed left, following the little red dots. Six...three...footprints. What does that mean? Papa, what does that mean?” 

Cloud bent over to take a look and hummed loudly. “I guess it means sixty three steps in that direction.” 

Sora looked a little nervous but Riku took his hand. “I’ll count.” They moved to the end of the docks and they each took exaggerated steps. “One…… Two…… Three……” 

Cloud followed a few paces behind them, biting his lip to keep from laughing. He already knew Hana was going to be sorry she missed this. 

They went first to the stairs that lead them to the tree fort. Carved into the tree was a rather cartoon look skull and crossbones but the boys were enamored. They followed the map back down the way they’d come towards the waterfall where each picked up shiny rocks from the water. 

The way they acted, Cloud would have thought that was the treasure. They collected their stones into their pails and checked the map again. When it came to the shack, it was dark and spooky and they made Cloud go first. Once they conquered it the first time, they wouldn’t have trouble passing through again. 

They ran across the bridge to the paopu trees and very quickly found a pirate flag half buried in sand. It was all the confirmation they needed. 

“Papa cloud, there were really pirates here!” Riku said, eyes large with excitement. 

“Well, i’m not surprised. It’s a big ocean. There’s bound to be more out there.” Cloud mused.

Sora looked up at Cloud, his expression stricken with a sudden realization. “Papa… What if the pirates come back?” 

Cloud crouched down to look at him and smiled a little. “Then i’ll have to tell them that burying their treasure was a silly thing to do and that it’s yours now.”

“What if they want to fight?” Riku asked. 

“Then i’ll have to fight them, won’t i?” 

Sora’s concern transformed into the biggest smile. “And papa’s the strongest ever!”

“Well, maybe not the strongest ever but i’m pretty good.” Cloud laughed. 

Riku looked unconvinced. “That’s something only someone really strong would say.” 

Cloud laughed harder, and was sure there was nothing that brought on joy the way life seen through a child’s eyes did. 

They took a break, the boys utterly delighted by the way Cloud easily climbed the tallest paopu tree to grab them a star shaped fruit to eat as a snack. They climbed up on top of the tipped over paopu tree and ate their fruit as they stared out onto the ocean, looking for oncoming pirate ships. 

Cloud stood in front, leaning against the trunk of the tree to make sure neither child lost their balance. 

“Is this more fun than playing in the pool?” Cloud asked. 

“Yeah!” Riku grinned. “It’s real pirates and a real treasure hunt and a real treasure!” 

“And we’re going to be the first to find it!” Sora wiggled, hardly able to contain himself. 

“I’m sure you are.” Cloud agreed, smiling when the boys just jumped into the ocean to wash off the stickiness of the fruit. They swam back to shore and had to run through the shack again to get back to Cloud and look over their map again. 

They ran across the back half of the island that was covered in old bridges and something like an old obstacle course, no doubt made by older kids. Cloud had cringed and insisted on checking them himself before letting the boys play on them. They seemed surprisingly stable. The map had them going in a huge loop and the boys collected things they like along the way. Shells, rocks, driftwood… 

When they got back to the waterfall, instead of pouting the way Cloud half expected, they were just happy to be so much closer to the ‘X’.

“There’s a path, there’s a path!” Sora cheered as he followed Riku along the big tree. When they came to an opening Riku checked the map three time and looked up at Cloud warily. 

“Is this right?” 

“Let’s see.” Cloud smiled a little, bending to take another look at the map. “Yep, looking like you go through here and it will lead you to the treasure.” 

Poor boys peered inside before Sora squeezed Riku’s hand. “C’mon.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Riku said, a little more iffy about the situation than Sora seemed to be. They wandered inside, the two of them making sure Cloud followed them in. The tunnel curved and it let out into an opening that was oddly well lit.

In the center were flat stones, all relatively small in the perfect ‘X’ design. 

“It’s real!” Riku gasped. “Papa Cloud it’s real!” 

“What will you do now?” Cloud asked, lips pulling up into a smile.

“Dig!” Sora yelled. Both he and Riku dropped their pails but kept their shovels. They carefully tossed the stones that made up the ‘X’ out of the way and went to digging. It was the cutest thing and Cloud just sat back and watched the boys dig through the loose soil. They were all excitement and energy and between them it took a good fifteen minutes or so throwing small plastic shovels worth of dirt out of the way before they struck something solid. 

The boys were absolutely enthralled as they pulled out a small treasure chest from the hole they’d dug, the heavy lock on it already broken like it had rusted apart. 

Riku pulled the padlock off and let Sora open the chest and both gasped, delighted. There were gold coins! Fake but gold anyway. There were beaded necklaces painted gold and little plastic gems that were transparent so the light could shine right through them. There were also little rubber snakes that had them shrieking, grins on their faces. 

The boys dug through it all, Sora putting on a tri cornered hat he found while Riku put on a headband and eye patch. There were plastic rings and glow in the dark rocks but what had the boys the most excited were the two wooden swords. 

“Papa look!” Sora called, holding his up. “It’s just like yours!” 

“It is!” Cloud laughed. It..wasn’t… but a sword was a sword when you were four years old. 

“We have swords like papa’s.” Riku whispered in awe. “Papa Cloud! Can you teach is to sword fight.” 

Cloud tried so hard not to laugh. “Sure, do you think you boys can be careful with them? Swords are weapons, not toys.” 

“Yes!” They cheered. 

They packed everything up that they weren’t wearing back into the chest and the two of them prepared to carry it out of the cave. Riku carried the front to walk backwards and Sora followed along, carrying the back. 

“It was hidden real good.” Riku commented as they made their way back outside. “Pirates knew what they were doing. It’s a good secret spot.” 

“Well we got the treasure so it’s our secret spot now.” Sora beamed. 

They were practically waddling, taking baby steps as they carried the chest and Cloud followed, preparing to help them should they need it but they were so proud. This beat a day in a pool and sure beat a day with the two of them just being grumpy about Riku’s sisters. 

It had been an adventure and showed them that they could explore any time, even a place they thought they knew well already. 

For another hour they played on the beach, running around with their swords, on the lookout for pirates. They laughed about what they would do with their treasure and only rumbling bellies had them wanting to go back to the main island. 

“Papa?” Sora asked as Cloud packed their hard earned treasure chest into the row boat. “Did you know the treasure was there?” 

“Yeah. Did you put it there for us?” Riku asked, knowing that the jewels weren’t real. 

Cloud hummed. “Would i do something like that?” 

They didn’t seem sure and Cloud just chuckled, helping them both back into the row boat. “Let’s go home and have some dinner. You can play with your treasures more after.” 

“Okay.” Sora laughed, ready to go. It had been a fun treasure hunt. The gold might have stayed at the house, but the swords ended up going with them almost everywhere they went. They were their own kind of treasure and Cloud was glad to have witnessed it.

**Author's Note:**

> Series Order 
> 
> Gifts  
> A Home that Heals  
> First Adventure  
> Tourney  
> Broken Chain  
>  **Secrets Kept**  
>  Design Time. (set during chapter 5 of Secrets Kept)   
> Impart your Wisdom  
> Look to the Rain (Flashback scenes set about 8 years prior)  
> Misfits


End file.
